15 x 8” chrome wheel outers available?

Years ago I bought four 15 x 7” Buick factory rally rims with the plan to cut the centers out and send them off to have them installed in 15 x 8” new chrome outers. Plan was to end up with 5” back spacing. Over 50 years ago in high school metal shop I used put Chevy centers in Buick outers to create reverse rims with some depth. This was about the time American mag rims arrived. What I would like to do now is buy the 15 x 8” outers and install the factory centers in them. I was once a certified welder so I should be able to weld them together. Anyone know where I can buy the outers

 

I made my own as well. I did not do Chrome hoops though. I found some 15x8" truck wheels and cut the centers out then welded the Buick centers in. I then painted them silver. The Buick rally wheels came painted in silver with trim rings as well as the chrome versions. They are actually quite rare in the painted versions. I had a set of 15x7 painted versions already so I made some 15x8"s for my drag radials. I also took a rusty set of 15x7" chrome versions and blasted them heavy and painted them for a set on my wife's car. One thing I suggest. Make sure you cut apart the much more common 14" wheels to get the centers. They are the same size. 15" ones are harder to find and even if rusty should be saved with a blast and silver paint.
Greg

 

Nice work!

 

Very nice!

 

There is a need for a quality producer of these re-hooped wheels. There were 2 gentlemen making the re-hooped wheels, McWheels, and Caruso. I don't think either is producing them any longer. I sold one of them at least 12 14" wheels for the centers. This is my interpretation of why they don't offer them any longer and based only on my experience. I have 2 pairs from both of them 1 is a 15x8 the other a 15x7 both sets have a bad spot in the chrome within a year or two of install. Both on a garaged car with about 450 miles of summer usage and maybe once in the rain. I am guessing the chrome hoops were made overseas and of questionable quality chroming, or the welding process had a negative effect on the chrome. Maybe one of them will comment about it here. Or name their source for hoops. Tony

 

I believe that Caruso would still be doing the rims if the hoop supplier would have worked with him. I think he said the supplier would only sell to him if he bought a 1000 hoops at a time!
That's pretty unreasonable for a small business like his!

 

I’ve heard complaints (on here) about Wheel Vintiques’ Buick rallies being out of round or having failing chrome even on garage kept cars; maybe they were the hoop maker (or using the same/only source).
Patrick

http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/problem-w-wheel-vintique.389459/

 

Nice job on those!

Can you be more specific on the "truck wheels" you used for the hoops? Maybe narrow it down to a range of years or were they stock steel rims for hubcaps, or rallyes, etc?

Thanks!

 

I wish I could be more specific. I just kept checking wheels for sale that looked like they had similar size centers. They were 15x8" 8 on 5.5"bolt pattern white spoke truck wheels. You can see one of them in the background with the sand blasted assembled wheels on my tailgate here. I paid $100 for 4 of them but a couple where not very straight. I tack welded the centers after measuring and then mounted them on my utility trailer that has the gm bolt pattern hubs. I used my dial indicator and kept adjusting the position of the rim to the center until I ended up with .080" radially and .060" laterally which was actually better numbers than my OEM wheels checked out to be.
Greg

 

You could try contacting US Wheel and see if they would sell you 15x8 chrome outers?

They make their own wheels so buy the outers from a supplier I would assume.

https://www.uswheel.com/wheel/7638/us-wheel-rallye-series-57/?finishID=1

Or you could buy 4 of those wheels from them and cut out but that would be expensive.

 

If you were to just paint them like Greg did, why even buy chromed wheels? I would think plain steel wheels would be easier to find? Maybe find a supplier that sells just the hoops in steel, not chromed. Gotta be cheaper.

 

Posts by Caruso or McWheels a few years ago talked like getting the hoops wasn’t easy. The suppliers don’t want to sell small quantities.

Caruso doesn’t make them anymore. Not sure about McWheels.

 

Chrome isn’t as good as it was in 60s and 70s. They can’t use the cancer causing stuff anymore.